UMass Boston

Leslie Odom Jr. entered UMass Boston’s Campus Center Ballroom wearing a vintage-inspired gold suit that evoked his time on Broadway in the acclaimed musical Hamilton. The Tony and Grammy Award-winning performer was met with cheers from students who gathered to hear him in conversation with local writer and speaker Amma Marfo.

Odom brought humor and candid advice to students at the event organized by The Mass Media and the Student Arts and Events Council. From the start of the conversation, he encouraged students to think deeply about how they spend their time at UMass Boston.

“These four years,” he said, “really ought to be a safe testing ground for you to make relationships, discover more of who you are, have a bunch of fun.”

Odom’s love for performing started early. At just 16 years old, he auditioned for the Broadway production of Rent.

“I thought maybe at the end of the [audition] process, if I was really lucky, my picture would go into a filing cabinet, and they might call me someday,” he said. “I was 17 years old when I joined the Broadway Company of that show.”

When the conversation turned to Hamilton, for which Odom received a Tony and Grammy Award for his portrayal of Aaron Burr, he emphasized that the show’s success was rooted in years of devotion long before it reached the stage.

“By the time the script came to me, Lin [Manuel Miranda] had been working on it for six years,” Odom said. “It was my job to love on it, too. I had to give it everything that I had.”

He urged students to approach their own fields of study with the same intensity.

“Every single day, outside of your classes, you should be loving on biology,” he said, drawing laughs from the audience. “You should be finding other people that love biology the way you do. You should be reading about it and giving biology all your passion and joy and the spark of who you are, the juice of what you should be doing that every single day. And I promise you, eventually, biology's going to love you back.”

Odom stressed to students that their preparation creates opportunity and that they should be ready when that time comes.

“There’s going to come a chance where all of this preparation is going to meet an opportunity,” he said. “That’s your chance to show them how much you’ve studied; how much you’ve prepared. All of this preparation and work you've done here, and for your whole life, is going to create an opportunity where you're gonna be like, ah, it's now. I'm supposed to use it all right now.”

Marfo also asked Odom about leadership and collaboration in creative environments. Odom responded with a lesson he has carried throughout his career.

“The most exceptional leaders are exceptional followers as well,” he said. “Allowing yourself to be led is an act of generosity.”

He described working alongside visionary directors and collaborators and emphasized the importance of aligning professional opportunities with personal values.

“You get to decide,” he told students. “It’s a two-way process. Not just, ‘Can I do this work?’ but ‘Will it feel good in my soul to do this work?’ And if it doesn’t, you’re allowed to say no.”

Throughout the evening, Odom returned to the importance of intentionality, especially in a media-saturated world. He encouraged students to be mindful about what they consume and what shapes their sense of self.

“There are people telling you lies about yourself all the time,” he said. “Be very intentional in the reflection of yourself that you curate.”

He also reminded students that their tuition pays for more than coursework.

“Don’t forget that one of the things your tuition is paying for is these relationships,” he said. “Stay in touch.”

At the end of the conversation, Odom left students with a simple but resonant message.

“Just continue to walk toward the thing that you care about,” he said. “Follow it all the way to the end.”

For many in attendance, it was not just a reflection on his journey, but an invitation to consider their own.